loisell



1959 P. J. LOISELL MATERIAL HANDLING DEVICE Filed Dec. 51. 1954 2sheets-sheet 1 P. J. LOISELL MATERIAL HANDLING DEVICE! Jan, 13, 1959 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 31. 1954 flwzfillir %EY United States PatentMATERIAL HANDLING DEVICE Paul Joseph Loisell, Flint, Mich., assignor toGeneral Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of DelawareApplication December 31, 1954, Serial No. 479,084 2 Claims. (Cl. 294-88)This invention relates to material handling devices in general and moreparticularly to devices for ejecting or withdrawing stamped members frommetal stamping presses.

The removal of metal stampings from large stamping presses whenperformed manually is a dangerous operation. Numerous means'havetherefore been proposed for automatically ejecting the stamped membersfrom such presses without requiring that the operator expose himself todanger. Such devices include the Sahlin Iron Hand shown and described inthe United States patent to Sahlin 2,275,561. The proposed device is animproveme'nt over the mechanical hand used with the Sahlin apparatus andincludes a more eflicient work jaw operating means and a moresatisfactory arrangement of the work engaging jaws themselves.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a showing of an automatic mechanical arm having the proposeddevice adapted for use therewith.

Figure2 is a side elevational view of the proposed material handlingdevice;

Figure 3 is a side elevational view of the proposed device as employedto engage a work member.

Figures 4 and 5 are cross-sectional views taken in the planes of lines4-4 and 5-5, respectively, of Figure 2 looking in the direction of thearrows thereon.

The automatic mechanical arm apparatus shown in Figure l is generallyadapted to be secured to the side of a stamping press and to have thearm 12 thereof extended downwardly with the pick-off or ejector device14 adapted to reach inside the press to engage a workpiece. The stampingpress is not shown.

The apparatus 10 comprises a control housing 16 including an aircylinder 18 and having the air cylinder rod 20 connected to a carriagemember 22. The carriage member 22 has a bell crank 24 pivotally mountedthereon as at 26. The bell crank 24 includes a cam follower roller 28which is adapted to engage and follow the cam surface 30 of the housingas the carriage 22 is raised vertically by air cylinder rod 20. The arm12 is secured to the end of the bell crank 24 and includes an. armextension 32 telescoped therein and adjustable with respect thereto bymeans of the adjustment screw 34. A dash pot cylinder 35 and cylinderrod 37 are secured between the housing 16 and carriage member 22 tocushion the end travel of the carriage member.

A fixture 36 is secured to the end of the arm extension 32 for holdingthe ejector device 14. The fixture 36 includes a screw adjustment means38 for regulating the angular disposition of the ejector device 14relative to arm 12 and a clamp means 40 slidably engaging a rod 42 ofthe ejector device for regulating the stroke length of the devicetowards the workpiece.

The ejector device 14 includes a base plate 44 with a support member 46secured to one end thereof. The rod 42, with which the arm 12 of theapparatus 10 is connected, is secured to the support member 46 and 6base plate 44. An air cylinder 48 is also secured to the support member46 and extends rearwardly thereof with the rod 42.

A piston rod guide plate 50 is secured to the face of the supportmember46 by fastening means 52 and has a piston rod 54, actuated by airpressures applied within the air cylinder 48, extended therethrough. Thepiston rod 54 includes a forked arm connector 56 at the extended endthereof engaging a carrier 58 and secured thereto by pin 60.

The carrier 58 is formed to include a relieved section on itsundersurface as at 62. and flanged side rails 64 and 66 by means ofwhich it may be slidably disposed upon the base plate 44 and guidedwithin guide rails 68 and 70 secured to each side of the base. Thecarrier 58 also includes parallel spaced side walls 72 formed to provideguide walls 76 and 78 near one end thereof and pivot pin support walls80 and82, and 84 and 86, near the other end thereof. A control rod 88has one end disposed between the guide walls 76 and 78 and is retainedby a pin 90 extended through the rod and received within guide slots 92and 94 formed within the walls. The other end of rod 88 is threadedwithin a member 96 having fork arms 98 and 100 with pin 102 extendedtherebetween. A bell crank lever 104 is pivotally supported upon a pivotpin 106 extended between walls 80 and 82. One end of the bell cranklever 104 is engaged .upon pin 102 and the other end thereof includes apin jaw memengaging member secured to the end of the carrier 58. Aspring member 122, under compression, is engaged 1 between the carrier58 and the end 124 of rod 88. The spring member 122 is received within apassage 126 formed through the end of the carrier 58 and closed by aplug 128 threaded therein. The spring biases the rod axially to theextent allowed by pin 90 within guide slots 92 and 94 to move bell cranklever 104 so as to maintain the jaw member 112 in the position shown inFigure 2.

A collar member 130 is secured to rod 88 and has a pin 132 extendedtherethrough and exposed on each side thereof. The side walls 72 and 74of the carrier 58 are cut away as at 134 to receive the pin and allowlimited travel within the extent allowed rod 88. Stop lugs 136 and 138are secured upon guide rails 68 and 70 near one end of the carrier 58,and on opposite sides thereof, for engaging pin 132 and limitingrelative movement between the carrier 58 and base plate 44. The limitedtravel allowed the carrier and base plate is shown in Figure 3. Theengagement of lugs 136 and 138 with pin 132 causes the control rod 88 tobe prevented from further movement with carrier 58. As the carriercontinues its outward movement, control rod 88 acts upon bell cranklever 104 to close the jaw member 112 upon any workpiece such as 140disposed between the end 118 of the jaw and the work engaging member120.

In the operation of the automatic mechanical arm apparatus 10 the aircylinder rod 20 is adapted to lift the carriage member 22 causing thecam follower roller 28, in following the cam surface 30, to pivot thebell crank 24 about its pivotal point 26 raising the end of the bellcrank and causing the arm 12 to remove the ejector device 14 from withinthe stamping press. The

reverse operation disposes the ejector device within the stamping press.

As the ejector device 14 is positioned within the stamping press the aircylinder 48 is actuated causing the piston rod 54 to move the carrier 58relative to the base plate-44. Thestroke of the ejectordevice-14 isadjusted so that the work engaging member 120 secured to the end of thecarrier will engage the workpiece 140 at the end of its relativemovement. The piston rod 54 in moving the carrier 58 relative to thebase plate 44 causes the pin 132 to be engaged by the stop lugs 136 and133 secured to the base plate. Further forward movement ofthe carriermember causes the lugs to move the control rod 88 relative to carrier 58through collar 130,

against the action of the biasing spring 122. Axial v movement oftherod-88 relative to the carrier 58 is translated through the bell cranklever 104 to cause the work engaging end 118 of the jaw member to engagethe workpiece 140 against the end of the carrier member.

The carrier 58 may be returned to its original position with respect tothe base plate 44 by means of the air cylinder 48 at the same time thatthe mechanical arm apparatus is adapted to withdraw the ejector 14 fromwithin the stamping press, or at such other time as is convenient andallows the apparatus to ready itself for picking off the next stampingfrom the press.

I claim:

1. A work handling device for use with automatic mechanical armapparatus and which includes a base member adapted to be secured to andsupported by said arm apparatus, a carrier member slidably mounteduponsaid base member,-a work engaging jaw member pivotally mounted upon oneend of said carrier and adapted to hold a workpiece to the terminal endof said carrier, work jaw control linkage carried 'by said slide memberand connected to said jaw member, power means on said carrier memberbiasing said control linkage to retain said jaw member in an openposition, piston cylinder means secured to said base member andconnected to said carrier for moving said carrier relative to said basemember, and stop lug means mounted adjacent the end of said base memberand disposed for cooperative impinging engagement with said controllinkage for over coming said biasing means and activating said controllinkage to close said jaw member against the terminal end of saidcarrier. 5 2. A work handling device for use with automatic mechanicalarm apparatus and which includes a base member adapted to be secured tosaid arm apparatus, a carrier member slidably mounted upon said basemember, a work engaging surface provided at the terminal end of saidcarrier, a work engaging jaw member pivotally mounted near the end ofsaid carrier, a bell crank actuator link pivotally mounted upon saidcarrier and having one end thereof connected to said jaw member, acontrol rod having one end connected to the other end of said actuatorlink, power biasing means mounted in and engaged between said carrierand the other end of said control link for retaining said jaw member in,an open position through the biased disposition of said control and itseflect upon said actuator link, pistoncylinder'means connected to saidcarrier for moving said carrier relative to said base member, and stopmeans provided near the end of said base member for engaging saidcontrol rod and moving said rod relative to said carrier for closingsaid jaw member against the work engagtherebetween, said work engagingsurface and said jaw member being juxtaposed when closed to hold saidwork member in-a plane at the point of engagement normal'to the lineofmovement of said carrier member.

References Cited in the file of thispatent UNITED STATES PATENTSUnloadingMachines; 16 pages. Page 16 indicates a printing'date ofJanuary 1954.

ing surface of said carrier and engaging a work member 289, Birmingham,Michigan, entitled Sahlin Iron Hand

